The Cleveland Cavaliers attempt to bounce back from a fierce beating when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
The contest is the second of a five-game road trip for the Cavaliers, who had their season-best five-game winning streak halted by losing 126-113 to the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
Cleveland trailed by as many as 33 points and committed 22 turnovers. Star guard Donovan Mitchell had eight of the miscues and scored just 16 points.
“I’m not pleased,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I thought the game got out of hand, quite honestly.”
The sloppy effort came with guard Darius Garland (toe) and forward Evan Mobley (calf) on the sidelines.
Atkinson was disappointed with the heavy number of turnovers.
“Lack of focus. Some of them were inexplicable,” Atkinson said.
He added: “Some of it was their pressure. Some of it was their fouling. It was a mix of everything. A lot were self-inflicted.”
Cleveland trailed by just five points at halftime before the game got away. Phoenix scored 45 third-quarter points on 16-of-20 shooting, including 7 of 10 from 3-point range.
Even though the Cavaliers trimmed the margin late in the game, that wasn’t any solace to Atkinson.
“They were the better team,” Atkinson said. “Played much better. We didn’t have it physically.”
Mitchell took just 12 shots against the Suns. He averaged 32.6 points with a high outing of 45 during the five-game winning streak.
De’Andre Hunter scored a team-best 17 points against Phoenix.
The Trail Blazers have dropped four straight games, including three road losses against the Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and New York Knicks.
Friday’s 127-97 defeat to the Knicks was a thorough beating to cap the poor road trip through the East.
“We know we are way better than we presented these last few games,” Trail Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter said.
Shaedon Sharpe led with 26 points, but Portland never led in the contest and was hindered by 20 turnovers.
“We turn over the ball 20 times and all of these big dogs on the team have three or four turnovers,” Splitter said. “Lack of focus and lack of concentration, and we need to be doing a better job of passing the ball.
“When you turn over the ball, you can’t just put your head down and not run back. That’s what we did. They were way better than us.”
Portland star Deni Avdija has been dealing with back issues lately and had just 11 points on 4-for-14 shooting to go with five rebounds and three assists.
The All-Star Game candidate’s season averages are 25.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists.
“Deni’s not 100%,” Splitter said. “We have to figure out what we’re going to do with him.”
That response led to a question seeking clarification.
“He’s not driving with the same force,” Splitter said of Avdija. “We have to check with the medical staff or whatever and figure out what we’re going to do.”
Avdija was in fine form when the Trail Blazers recorded a 122-110 road win over the Cavaliers on Dec. 3. He had 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Mitchell scored 33 points as Cleveland lost to Portland for just the second time in a nine-meeting span.
The contest is the opener of a five-game homestand for the Trail Blazers.
–Field Level Media
